Trip to Biloxi - part 1

As I wrote in my previous post, after driving 2,200 miles, we vacationed in Biloxi, Mississippi. Since my blog is really supposed to be about woodworking, I will not show everything we did there, but try to show what relates to woodworking and homes.

We stayed for a week at a cottage that was less than a block from the beach front in Biloxi.  For those of you who don't know, Biloxi was severely hit by Hurricane Katrina almost 10 years ago now.  We could see places where houses had been and just foundations were remaining.

This was on the walk between our cottage and the beach. Hard to imagine seeing your house destroyed and just this left:

Just down the road from us was the last home of Jefferson Davis, if you know your American History (remember I'm a Canadian and we learned a bit in school, but not as much as the Americans would have), you'll know that Davis was the President of the Confederate States from 1862-65.  The home is part of an estate called "Beauvoir," and sits facing the Gulf Coast across the road from the highway that runs along Biloxi beach.  Beauvoir (meaning beautiful view) was severely damaged by Katrina, but has been painstakingly restored.

This is one of the bedrooms in the house, look at the woodwork in the bed!

Here is another bedroom complete with a crazy quilt and another hand-crafted bed.

In the middle of the house is a large room which held this sideboard.  After Katrina it was found after having floated into the backyard.  The thick wood floors in here did not warp even after being submerged in water from Katrina's wrath.  Amazing wood! Also look at the painting on the walls, there was no actual cove moulding here, it's all painted to look like there is:

This next photo shows the painting on the ceiling in the sitting room, also made to look like moulding.  The painter left a spot which shows the wood lathe underneath.

If you've been reading my blog you may remember that I have a pocket door (read about it here) and have been thinking of stripping it back to wood, even though my trim will be all painted white.

Well now that I've seen Beauvoir, I just HAVE to strip my door.  Look at what they have, an enormous wood stained door with white trim:

Okay, on to other things...

Have you heard of a shoo-fly deck?  I had not... here is one in Biloxi, they are made around big oak trees to allow people to get ocean breezes and not have to contend with sand flies!  Also notice the beautifully carved tree on the left and below.  After many trees were destroyed in Biloxi (thanks again to Katrina), the trees were topped and then carved by two different craftsmen.

                                                                                                                                                     
Check google images for "Biloxi tree sculptures" if you are interested in seeing more, they are quite amazing ranging from dolphins to pelicans and other seabirds.

I will finish our vacation post next time, I didn't realize I had so much to share that was wood related.

You can read part 2 here.

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Coastal Charm

Elizabeth & Co.